Achieving climate and development objectives requires an annual investment of $6.9 trillion through 2030, OECD estimates. The stakes are not abstract and the potential for failure is devastating. The investments will only achieve impact if the ventures deploying it are given a genuine chance to succeed. Global action on climate change hinges on our collective ability to develop, deploy, and scale transformative technologies at an unprecedented rate. 

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However despite the urgency and potential, systems designed to foster innovation are often failing most promising Climate Tech pioneers. There exists a fundamental disconnect between the needs of climate-focused innovation and the rigid profit-driven mechanisms that govern mainstream technology commercialisation. Founders are often directed into a venture capital pipeline optimised for speed and exit, not long development timelines, regulatory complexity or patient capital that climate tech demands. Consequently, critical talent is diverted from solving problems to chasing funding and promising technologies stall.

 

Oxford Centre for Technology and Development (OCTD) was founded on the conviction that the "business as usual" approach to consequential climate tech innovations is not producing intended outcomes or sizable impact. OCTD creates alternative pathways to commercialisation, champion long-term impact, support diverse innovator profiles, and provide patient, hands-on support necessary for critical technologies to reach global markets.Our measure of success is not the number of pitch decks or funding rounds closed: Our impact is quantified by the number of transformative technologies that make it from the lab to real markets that need them most.